Cities

London and the First World War

“…After all, the British capital was never close to the front line (unlike Paris), never experienced near-starvation (unlike Berlin), never faced the danger of social implosion (unlike Vienna), never witnessed urban insurrection (unlike Dublin) or political revolution (unlike St Petersburg), and was never subjected to military occupation (unlike Constantinople). 4 For London, the years 1914-1918 proved not nearly as disruptive as for other metropolises, and yet -as this special issue shows -the war left a deep and lasting imprint on the city, often with unexpected long-term consequences. It is a terrible irony that the war, though enormously costly in lives and resources, also had many positive effects for the metropolis in the twentieth century.…”